In solid pharmaceutical preparations containing a basic medicinal component having an unpleasant taste, methods for masking the unpleasant taste are disclosed, for example, in the following publications.
JP 02-502729 A discloses “a pharmaceutical granule composition comprising cimetidine and, as a granulating and taste-masking agent, an ester of a polyhydroxy compound, and, optionally, a palatable pharmaceutically acceptable emulsifier.”
JP 06-116138 A discloses “a composition for an oral pharmaceutical preparation comprising (a) a complex formed by dispersing or dissolving an unpleasantly tasting basic drug and a polymer compound soluble in stomach in a substance having a low melting point, (b) 10 to 70% by weight of a sugar alcohol and (c) 0.1 to 7% by weight of an basic oxide.”
JP 10-236947 A discloses “a granular pharmaceutical preparation obtained from a process for manufacturing a pharmaceutical preparation bulk comprising the steps of:
(1) melting and granulating a mixture comprising a drug having a physiological activity and polyethylene glycol;
(2) re-melting and re-granulating said granulated granules after addition of an excipient.”
JP 11-228450 A discloses “an oral composition comprising a basic drug having an unpleasant taste and an anionic high-molecular weight substance, in which the unpleasant taste is masked.”
On the other hand, recently, a solid pharmaceutical preparation disintegrating and/or being dissolved quickly in the oral cavity has been developed for patients with difficulty in swallowing drugs, aged persons and children as a dosage form which can be easily ingested.
Such solid pharmaceutical preparations, for example, are described in the following publication.
JP 10-114655 A disclosed “a solid pharmaceutical preparation comprising a therapeutically effective amount of at least one kind of a drug, at least one kind of a neutral or basic additive and a disintegrant.”
In the solid pharmaceutical preparations described in the above known publications, it cannot be said that masking of an unpleasant taste of a medicinal component is sufficient and their disintegration property and preparation strength are satisfactory. Therefore, it is desired to develop a solid pharmaceutical preparation having excellent properties such as adequate masking of an unpleasant taste of a basic medicinal component having the unpleasant taste (hereinafter, sometimes abbreviate to a basic medicinal component), as well as a quick disintegration property and appropriate preparation strength, etc.
In addition, since a disintegration property and preparation strength of the solid pharmaceutical preparations described in the above known publications are unsatisfactory, it is desired to develop a solid pharmaceutical preparation having a quick disintegration property and appropriate preparation strength.